DEORIA: In a case of food poisoning, around 80 students from the Pandit Deendayal Upadhyay Ashram Method Inter College in Mehroona village of this district fell ill with symptoms of stomach pain, vomiting, and diarrhoea, officials said on Monday.
The incident took place after the children had dinner Sunday night, they said.
District Magistrate Divya Mittal told reporters that the students are in stable condition while an investigation into the incident is underway.
According to an official statement released Monday evening, some students at the government-run school were reported to have fallen ill due to food poisoning.
Two students, Akash and Nitesh, are receiving treatment at Maharishi Devraha Baba Medical College.
The remaining students received primary treatment from a team of doctors led by the Chief Medical Officer (CMO) at the school itself.
All students are safe, and a medical team remains at the school as a precaution, the statement said.
District Magistrate Mittal and Superintendent of Police Sankalp Sharma visited the medical college to check on the affected students.
Mittal told reporters that the students' condition is stable and that action would be taken against those found responsible.
In an official statement, Assistant Commissioner of Food Safety Vinay Kumar Sahay said that a team from the Food Safety and Drug Administration inspected the inter college's kitchen and storage area.
They collected seven samples, including prepared bread, lentils, vegetables, chili powder, chickpeas, mustard oil, and mixed pickles.
The samples were collected in the presence of the school's director, Rajkumar Gupta, and a notice regarding storage and kitchen deficiencies is being issued.
The samples have been sent to a food laboratory for testing, and further action will be taken based on the results, Sahay said.
Sources revealed that the government-run Ashram school has 326 enrolled students from classes six to 12.
After dinner on Sunday night, some students began experiencing vomiting, diarrhoea, stomach pain, dizziness, and chills.
The school management provided some medication and advised the students to rest until the morning. By Monday morning, the number of affected students had risen to around 80.
The affected students were then taken to a hospital.
Sub-Divisional Magistrate (SDM) Vipin Kumar Dwivedi and Food Inspector Vipin Kumar Sahay arrived at the scene. Sahay noted that most of the students suffered from food poisoning, while some were affected by infectious diseases.
The health department team conducted an investigation and found that all students are now in stable condition.
The sources said that the students reported eating 'poori' and 'chhola' the night before. The 'chhola', prepared in the day, was served again with 'poori' in the evening, leading to the students' illnesses, they said.